Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Fort Providence (Nov 29/99) - Low water levels on the Mackenzie River have stopped more than the ferry service at Fort Providence.

The hamlet's water supply was threatened Tuesday when the Mackenzie's levels dropped so low the water treatment plant's intake pipe was "sucking air," said Mayor Mike McLeod.

"The pipe is 15 feet (4.5 metres) into the river, but it was still exposed," McLeod said. "We had to run a hose from the pipe into the river."

The hamlet has asked residents to conserve as much water as possible. People are asked to take short showers and to wash only full loads of laundry and dishes.

The low water levels are the result of a 14-kilometre ice jam at the mouth of the Mackenzie River at Great Slave Lake.

Ferry service across the river at Fort Providence, the North Slave's only highway link to the south, was suspended Friday when the lack of water made the crossing dangerous, according to Gerald Perron of the Department of Transportation's marine services.

Even though there was some overflow at the jam site last Friday, Perron said he did not know when the ferry will reopen.

"At this time, even if the water levels were to rise dramatically, it would still be 12 to 24 hours before we'd be operating the ferry," he said. "We need to reconstruct the (ferry) landings."

Perron said blasting the ice jam is not being considered at this time.

"There's a fishing lodge there and it's a natural fish habitat, so it's not allowed," he said.

Pete Cott, a habitat biologist for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), said blasting can seriously hurt or kill fish.

"When an explosion occurs, there's a drastic pressure change, from high pressure to low pressure," he explained.

"That change can rupture sensitive organs in fish. It can kill them instantly, or they can have bleeding from the gills and die from a secondary infection."

An explosion can also stir up sediment in the water, which makes it hard for the fish to breathe through their gills, Cott said.

However, DFO will sometimes allow blasting, if the explosion's force and affect are not enough to cause fish death, or if human beings are at risk, Cott said.

"There is life over limb," he said. "We'd prefer to kill a few fish than people."

Cott said he is surprised the department of transportation hasn't contacted DFO about blasting.

Meanwhile, the ferry closure has brought trucking from the south to a halt, said Janet Robinson, risks manager of RTL Robinson Enterprises.

"It's pretty well brought our trucking division to a halt," said Robinson.

"Although, we are shuttling goods by helicopter that can be shuttled, such as things that can be (put on pallets)."

However, fuel cannot be shuttled across the river in this way, she said.

McLeod said Fort Providence is also starting to worry about fuel.

"We're concerned about how much fuel our power plants have stockpiled, and we're also worried about propane," he said.

The power plant does have about 14 to 16 days worth of fuel stockpiled, so there's no need to panic, according to James Toft of Northland Utilities in Fort Providence.

Water and fuel may be short, but Fort Providence is not running out of groceries yet.

"We missed this week's stock (shipment), but that was only (on Wednesday)," said Northern Store manager Mac Stark. "There's no reason to panic, but it will be next week if arrangements can't be made."

Stark said Northern would probably fly in perishables, and any other essential groceries, if the ferry isn't running sometime this week.

The ferry was already scheduled to close early this year, when the ice crossing reached half of its maximum capacity, or 30,000 kilograms, according to Perron.

However, the river's channel is still open at the ice crossing site, so the crossing cannot be used at all.

Perron said a snap of cold weather could help both the crossing and the water levels.

"If it freezes further downstream, the water might pool at the ferry crossing and we'll have enough to safely operate again," he said.